Vols look to rebound against Cats after losing two

After dropping games at South Carolina on Wednesday and against Alabama Saturday, Head Coach Buzz Peterson and the Tennessee Vols will take their show on the road to conference leader Kentucky Wednesday night. “I’m pretty disappointed,” said Peterson after the Alabama loss. “You have to take care of home court advantage. You could say that they (Alabama) were a team that really needed a win bad. We looked mentally tired. My biggest concern is getting that mental edge back to where we need it. “Tonight Bama was a ball club who played good and probably wanted it more than we did.” Alabama came to Knoxville not having won a conference road game all season. The win over Tennessee makes them 15-8 overall and 5-7 in the SEC. It was considered a must win by most Bama insiders, and the victory—by most accounts—keeps their once fledgling NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The Vols, meanwhile, fell to 15-8 overall and 7-5 in the SEC. What looked like a sure bet tournament team last week, saw their College RPI drop to 43, and will probably need to win at least two of their four remaining regular season games to stay in the hunt. Judging from past NCAA bubble teams, it will more than likely take at least a .500 conference record and 17 wins to have a chance to receive one of the tournament at large bids. It won’t be easy for the Vols, as they go on the road to second ranked Kentucky before returning home for games against LSU on March 1, and Mississippi State on March 5. The Vols will then end their regular season at Vanderbilt on March 8, before beginning SEC Tournament play on March 13. Peterson, who has worried since mid-season about his team ‘hitting a wall’, is concerned about the team’s focus as they prepare to enter into a stretch run that will make or break the season. “Our defensive focus is not where it has been,” Peterson commented. “We’re going to look at this game as coaches and see how to get better. We still have four games left, so there’s a long way to go. We’ve kind of put our backs up against the wall, but maybe we play better with our backs against the wall.” Vols senior Thaydeus Holden, who scored 22-points on 6-8 shooting from behind the arc, said that he thinks that the teams focus needs to improve, and that will lead to better execution. “I’m not mentally tired,” said Holden following his season high effort against the Crimson Tide. “We’re going to Kentucky and try to get a win at Rupp Arena. Going to Kentucky may be a good thing for us to get our mental framework back.”